Bus Driver Falls Asleep, Flips Bus Onto its Side on I-95

Four people suffered minor injuries after the bus they were riding in left the pavement of I-95 and flipped onto its side.

Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland says the bus contained a group, ranging in age from 11 to 49, that was headed to Orono from Schenectady, New York for a Christmas concert on Wednesday night. As the bus traveled on I-95 in Burnham at around 11:30 Tuesday night, the driver fell asleep behind the wheel. The bus drifted to the right side of the road and overturned on its passenger side, coming to rest down an embankment. The injured passengers were taken to hospitals in Pittsfield and Waterville, with minor injuries, while the 34 other passengers and the bus driver were taken to a Waterville motel for the night.

The bus, which is owned by Arrow Stage Line of Omaha, Nebraska, was up-righted by two wreckers just after 2 a.m. Police cited the driver, 65-year-old Charles Barry, of Omaha, for failure to maintain control of the bus. Police say only a handful of passengers were off the bus when troopers arrived, minutes after the crash was reported. Pittsfield and Clinton police assisted troopers at the crash site and three ambulances were used to transport the injured to area hospitals.